Mobile carts are employed in medical facilities to move medical equipment between locations. One type of mobile cart includes an x-ray source used to capture (e.g., digital) x-ray images on x-ray detector. Medical x-ray images can be captured using various techniques. For example, techniques such as computed radiography (CR) and digital radiography (DR) can be used to obtain medical images.
Refer also to U.S. Pat. No. 7,611,282 (Koren) and WO 2007/139638 (Jadrich), and WO 2007/078684 (Dhurjaty), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,961 (McEvoy).
Mobile x-ray apparatus are of particular value in intensive care unit (ICU) and other environments where timely acquisition of a radiographic image is important. Because portable carts can be wheeled around the ICU or other area and brought directly to the patient's bedside, a portable x-ray imaging apparatus allows an attending physician or clinician to have recent information on the condition of a patient and helps to reduce the risks entailed in moving patients to stationary equipment in the radiological facility.
However, there is a need for improvements in mobile x-ray apparatus design to allow such devices to be more easily transported, deployed and/or operated.